Category Archives: a Little bit of “e”

Have you checked their Home Improvement Wishlist lately? It literally lit up my day (and then every day after) when my husband installed a chandelier in my closet. We had purchased this light fixture years ago but never took time to hang it up. What a nice gift of service!
Instant gratification runs deep in our house, many of the “gifts”, the other person has already ordered for themselves and Amazon Prime is on track to have it at the house within 48 hours. It may be hard to believe, but I think many wives would rather get new countertops in their bathroom then another pendant. I could be wrong don’t quote me on that. 😉
Home improvement projects can cost a good chunk of change and often take an effort to complete. So they sit undone waiting for a not busy Saturday to occur on the calendar. #akaNever
Surprise a loved one by getting the bids and selecting a contractor to install a new kitchen backsplash tile of her choice this January. Or add the paneling to the dining room wall that you all have been talking about the last few years. A cable outlet and mount for that outdoor television on the deck? A gas line run for a new stove of her choice?!?! What a great idea!

Sunday was my day off this past week. The weather was beautiful and we had one tasks on our minds. Lifting the roof on the swingset we had picked up for free from a family in the area. The dang thing had been sitting in our driveway taunting us all week

Tim decided it was far easier to not unscrew all the boards of the roof but move it as one big piece. I will not waste time trying to think about whether this was the best approach or not. I’ll just defer to his judgement on it. 🙂 We placed the children on a blanket with toys and then started the awkward process of figuring out how to get it from the ground to the top of the swingset.

It was not a smooth transition BUT we got it up there and no one got hurt. This is mostly likely due to the warnings Tim provided multiple times… “Don’t be a hero, Elizabeth!”, “Do not put your fingers there, Elizabeth!”.

I will spare you the details of it all. I wanted to write a little note to capture the experience and because it was another time that I was grateful. I was grateful to live in an area of generous people that GIVE a young family a free swing set. I am grateful for an excuse to be in the front yard more to play on the swing set and get to visit with neighbors passing by.

More than anything it was one of those moments that I was just grateful that we are in the home my boys will likely grow up in. That I will get to see them so tiny sitting in front of that swingset and then watch them grow into boys with what I imagine will be a “BOYS ONLY” sign for their clubhouse. I love that when they think back to the house they grew up in it will always start with this house and that it may be the only house they ever think of when they think of “Mom and Dad’s”.

On a less sappy note, I am grateful we won’t have to unscrew this thing and move it again!